Monday, April 17, 2017

About a year ago, my aunt called me and told me that she'd decided to randomly dial people in the town where our family is from, who have our last name. In doing so, she ran across a gentleman who is over 90 years old, who is related to us, and who remembers her parents and grandparents. She asked me to call him and talk to him about our family. Then health stuff happened. And so, finally, a year later, a few weeks ago, I did. He was a delightful guy and very willing to tell me his story and the story of his family, who consequently, at a certain point, was also my family.

He brought to life the stories and personalities of people who, until that point, had been merely names on pages. I recorded our conversation. About an hour in, I forgot to push record on the tape after I flipped it over and so I'm missing about an hour of the conversation. Doh! But I have these great stories, a tape of a lot of them and lots of written notes.

Anyways, about halfway through the conversation, he pauses and says "Well, I can tell you this if you'll keep it to yourself." And I agree, because of course I want to know. And he tells me. And it puts to rest one of my brick walls. I know now. I breathed a sign of relief after that.